Teaching History Through The National Parks

As a year-end, wrap-up social studies unit, my class is about to embark on an exploration of America's National Park system. 

My plan is to use this to talk about the expansion westward before and after the Civil War, a bit of Native American history, immigration, the Industrial Revolution and the environmental movement that grew in response to it.  It is a LOT of ground to cover for an end of the year discussion, so I'm trying to wrap it in the cloak of something really interesting for the kids by using the National Parks as my bait on the history and geography hooks.

After scouring the internet, I have found some lesson plans and materials available online through the Library of Congress, PBS and the Ken Burns' National Parks documentary series, and on the National Geographic website as well.

Most of the material, however, is not quite what I wanted.  So I'm having to cobble together an entire unit plan, pulling all the disparate pieces together into a more coherent whole, and adding my own material to them as I go along. 

Why, oh why, do I get these ideas and then do this to myself every single time? 

It's a gift and a curse, I suppose, but I do think the kids will learn a lot about American geography and history and even get to see a bit of beautiful scenery and wildlife (on film and in photos, at least) in the process. 

Waaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh

As long-time readers know, we have been planning a big family driving vacation to national parks -- Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Dinosaur National Monument -- and also assorted Laura Ingalls Wilder spots as well.

Alas, that trip is no longer happening this year.

sniffle loudly here

I just spent the last 20 minutes or so canceling all of our reservations.  Boy, that was painful.  It honestly made me physically ache to make those calls, that's how much fun I was having with the vacation planning for this trip.

But it cannot be helped, because canceling this is the right thing to do. 

After we lost our sister-in-law Amy unexpectedly last fall, Mr. ReddHedd and I decided that we needed to spend summer vacation with family instead of driving hither, thither and yon.  Which makes total sense for all of us, and is emotionally the right thing to do for all three of us this year, no question whatsoever.

But hear me now, Universe:  I am saving my ginormous notebook filled with trip research, activity pages, scientific information and assorted other trip goodies.

Grand Teton

Next summer, between our four nights at Yellowstone and time at Dinosaur National Monument, we are planning a nice drive through Grand Teton National Park.

Frankly, it is on the way between the two, so driving through it was inevitable.

But the scenery looks so gorgeous, we are looking forward to the lengthy drive.  Plus, we are hoping to stop for a picnic and some short hikes along the way if the weather and our energy levels cooperate.

I've been doing quite a bit of reading about all the parks, trying to wrap my brain around what other reservations we may need in advance.  Things book up so quickly that you can't afford to just wait until the last minute with these parks, it seems.

All the photos of Grand Teton are just gorgeous, but information on it is a little more scanty -- it is like the bastard stepchild of Yellowstone, even though there are so many things to do there.

Thankfully, the national park website is chock full of basic information.

Plus, I found a guidebook that has some incredibly useful information about hiking trails, vacation planning, and all sorts of other bits and pieces about Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons that ranks trails and other activities by how strenuous they are and the time it takes to do them. It's called Outdoor Family Guide to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks.